A new reading tool was put on the market this week for the two-to five-year-old set. It is sold for at least $389, an expensive purchase for a kid – and that doesn’t even include a $99 annual subscription (订阅) fee for games, e-books, and age-appropriate software.

That might be fine for parents willing and able to pay thousands for private nursery schools, but will the tool actually help kids learn language and reading skills more effectively than traditional books?

Probably not, said Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center for Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital Boston. “There is a sensory components (感官因素) to books that isn’t there with e-books,” he explained. “You can smell it, turn the pages, and taste it, as young kids are likely to do.”

That might help little ones become more familiar with the books, helping them learn from them, but far more important is whether a person is actually sitting with them while they’re looking at the pages.

Researchers have shown time and again that kids learn better when they’re having interaction (互动) with real people, rather than electronic voices reading to them from a computer or speaking to them from the TV.

A Georgetown University study found that kids who learned to put on gloves from watching a video took six times as long to learn the process as those who watched it shown by an adult standing in front of them.

“I’m a big believer in teaching kids to live in the digital society and use what the rest of the family uses, but they do need to be supervised,” said Dr. Gwenn O’Keeffe, a Boston-based children’s doctor and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “We don’t recommend that young kids use any type of technology for very long since they have the attention span (注意力持续时间) of a butterfly.”

1.According to the text, the new tool        .

2.Why is Dr. Michael Rich against the new tool?

3.The study mentioned in Paragraph 6 aims to        .

4.The underlined word “supervised” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “     ”.

5.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

I believe that families are not only blood relatives, but sometimes people who show up and love you when no one else will.

In May 1977, I was living in a Howard Johnson’s motel off Interstate 10 in Houston. My dad and I  1  a room with two double beds and the bathroom was too 2  for a 15-year-old girl and her father. Dad’s second marriage was   3   and my stepmother had   4  us both out of the house the previous week. Dad had no  5_   of what to do with me. And that’s when my other family   6  .

Barbara and Roland Beach took me into their home   7   their only daughter, Su, my best friend, asked them to. I   8  with them for the next seven years.

Barb washed my skirts the same as Su’s. She   9   I had lunch money, doctors’ appointments, help with homework and nightly hugs. Barbara and Roland attended every football game where Su and I were being cheerleaders. As far as I could tell, for the Beaches there was no 10 between Su and me; I was their daughter, too.

When Su and I 11  college they kept my room the same for the entire four years I attended school. Recently, Barb presented me with an insurance they _12_ when I first moved in with them and had continued to pay on for 23 years.

The Beaches knew 13  about me when they took me in – they had heard the whole story from Su.        When I was seven, my mother died and from then on my father relied on other people to _14  his kids. Before I went to live with the Beaches I had believed that life was entirely   15__ and that love was shaky and untrustworthy. I had believed that the only person who would take care of me was me.

   16  the Beaches, I would have become a bitter, cynical (愤世嫉俗的) woman. They gave me a(n) 17  that allowed me to grow and change. They kept me from being paralyzed(麻痹的) by my _18 , and they gave me the confidence to open my heart.

Now I   19 family. For me, it wasn’t the family that was there on the day I was 20  , but the one that was there for me when I was living in a Howard Johnson’s on Interstate

第二节 完形填空 （共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并从答题卡上将该选项涂黑。

It was a cool October evening. Excitement and family members __36___ the hall. I was only a 7-year-old girl, but I was the center of __37___. Finally, after weeks of preparation, I would __38_ all my hard work in a dance of performance. Everything would be __39___ —so I thought. I waited backstage all __40__ in my black tights with a golden belt. In a loud and clear voice, the master of ceremonies  __41__ that my class was next.

My dance class was doing a routine on wooden boxes two feet by two feet, facing the  __42___. All I had to do in the next move was put one foot on the box next to mine and keep my other foot on my box. I really was an  __43__ move. I was concentrating so much  __44___ the huge smile on my face and holding my head up that I did not look  __45__ I was going. I missed my partner’s box altogether and __46__. There I was standing on the stage floor when my classmates were on top of their boxes. I could hear giggles(咯咯笑) coming from the audience, and I felt the ___47___ rush to my face. I remembered my dance teacher had told us, “If you make a mistake, keep smiling so the audience will not ___48___.” I did my best to follow her ___49___ as I continued with the routine.

When the curtain dropped, so did my __50___ for the evening. I ___51___ bitterly, tasting the salt from the tears that streamed down my face. I ran backstage, but no one could __52__ me down.

 Recently I realized I had been a __53__ that night. I was ___54___, but I fought the urge to run off the stage. __55___, I finished the routine with a smile on my face. Now when friends and family laugh about the time I slipped during a dance performance, I can laugh too.

36. A. filled       B. visited      C. attended     D. decorated[来源:]

37. A. pressure    B. impression   C. debate       D. attention

38. A. take over    B. show off     C. look after    D. give up

39. A. reasonable   B. suitable      C. obvious     D. perfect

40. A. dressed up   B. folded up     C. covered up   D. mixed up

41. A. suggested    B. explained    C. announced    D. predicted

42. A. music       B. audience     C. curtain       D. stage

43. A. easy        B. active        C. adventurous   D. extra

44. A. containing   B. hiding       C. sharing       D. keeping

45. A. why        B. whether      C. where        D. what

46. A. wandered    B. slipped      C. waved        D. skipped

47. A. blood       B. pleasure      C. pride        D. tear

48. A. leave       B. cheer         C. believe      D. notice

49. A. gesture      B. example      C. advice      D. plan

50. A. doubts       B. hopes        C. voice       D. patience

51. A. argued       B. shouted       C. begged      D. sobbed

52. A. turn          B. calm        C. let          D. put

53. A. star         B. pioneer       C. loser         D. fool

54. A. satisfied     B. moved        C. embarrassed    D. confused

55. A. However     B. Instead        C. In total       D. in return

E

Water and its importance to human life are the center of the world’s attention. March 22 is World Water Day, which has the theme “Water and culture ”this year. Ther are more than one billion people in the world who live without safe drinking water. The United Nations hopes to cut this number in half by 2015.

Solving such a big problem seems like an unreal challenge. But everyone, even teenagers, can do something to help. A teenage girl in the U.S. has set an example to others of her age around the world. Rene Haggerty, 13, was awarded the 2004 Gloria Barron Prize for her work of collecting deserted batteries which pollute water.

In 2003, Haggerty went on a field trip to the Great Lakes Science Centre in Ohio. There, she saw an exhibit about how chemicals in old batteries harm the water of Lake Erie. Haggerty learnt that recycling the batteries was an easy solution. “I think everybody can do it, because everyone uses batteries, and it can make a big difference.”With these words, she began to increase awareness in her area.

She talked to her county government and school board. She got permission to start a recycling programme in schools as well as the public libraries, hospitals, and churches. With the help from her family, friends and local waste-management officials, she gathered containers, arranged transportation, and made an educational video.

Over the past two years, she collected four tons of batteries and drew the attention of officials, who were in charge of a battery recycling programme but had made little progress. When asked if she feels like a hero, Haggerty is quite modest. “Not really. Well, maybe for the fish I saved!”

Every year the Gloria Barron Prize honors young Americans aged 8 to 18 who have shown leadership and courage in serving the public and the planet. Each year ten winners receive ＄2,000 each, to help with their education costs or their public service work.

68.According to the passage, how many people probably can’t drink safe drinking water in 2015?

A.About I billion.                                            B.About 2 billion.

C.About 500 million.                                        D.About 5 million.

69.In order to collect used batteries, Rene Haggerty did the following things EXCEPT_______.

A.gather some containers                                  B.arrange the transportation

C.make an educational video                             D.go on a field trip

70.The best title for this passage should be_______ .

A.A girl awarded the 2004 Gloria Barron Prize

B.A girl acts to clean the world’s water

C.We should protect our environment

D.A girl collecting batteries

The following are introductions to some programs that BBC I London will show on TV.

1.Why is Laura worried?_______

2.Jim enjoys TV programmes of people or organizations that take care of animals. He should probably watch TV at_______.

3.We can learn from the text that_____